What are friends for?
by cavanaugh-girl
Summary: When Woody is in trouble because of Jordan once again, she comes through for him but what is keeping them apart now, leaning to a JW match surprise surprise. Just something that was rolling around in my head. Chapter 8 added. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own these characters; they belong to NBC, Tim Kring, Allan A and all the others to many to list….**

Hurry…hurry god this will never work! How did I get mixed up into this? Why do I even ask I know why…she makes me go through hoops and sadly enough I enjoy it I think.

"Ok do you think you can fill me in on what we're doing here?" he said.

"You have to be patient…I promised you I would help and that's what I'm doing if you'll let me Woody," she said without looking at him.

The truth was he was in trouble because of her. This time she felt really bad and wanted to help him.

"Woody just relax I know what I'm doing ok, we'll get them just hold still."

They had been staking out a group of men for the past couple of hours now.

"Christ Jordan, this will never work! You really think they'll hand us what we want on a silver platter? Don't hold your breath ok."

"Jeez, I know it sucks to be you right now but just wait ok, patience is a virtue you know."

"Sadly I do know yes," he looked at her knowing she wouldn't look him straight in the eye after that comment.

"There did you see that? He put something in his trunk, I don't think I have to tell you what, she said turning to him and giving him a big smile."

"You really think he's that dumb? Come on he just barely got away with murder, are you expecting me to believe he just did it again?"

"Well this is the part where you go running around flashing your badge and find out farm boy."

"Jordan, you know sometimes you can just drive me nuts, but then you go right ahead and remind me why I liked you in the first place," he said before he flipped out his phone and called the PD for back up.


	2. Knock Knock

Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan, I merely use them at times lol so don't sue me I haven't gotten any $ anyways. Royals, Oranges13: thanks for reviewing. I'll continue it for now, although I'm not really sure about this chapter…be brutal if it sux lol 

Due to a sudden work overload Woody and Jordan didn't see much of each other over the next few days. He had been back in the captain's good graces and she had done that for him. He was thankful but also aware that she got him in trouble in the first place.

Suffering from what he jokingly called 'lack-of-Jordan' he was on his way to the morgue where he ran into Nigel and Lily.

"Hey guys."

"Detective…long time no see. To what do we owe this honor? Or no to whom?" he said with a big smile on his face.

"Ah Nige always the funny one huh? I actually did come to see Jordan, strictly police business though." _I don't even buy that one. Lets hope they do though; I'm not in the mood._

"She's working on somebody right now, you can go join her I'm sure she won't mind…"

"Yea thanks Nige."

After he left Lily just gave Nigel a look. One of her disapproving looks.

"What? Come on they desperately need some help."

"You can't force them to be together if they don't want to," she said as she walked away.

"Ah you just wait and see love."

"Jordan hey."

"Woody! Hey, what brings you here?"

"Is that the question of the day or something? Why is everyone asking me that?"

"Ok…is this a bad day or something?"

He realized he was taking out some of his anger on her and quickly stopped.

"No sorry I didn't mean to snap at you. I didn't really get around it earlier, but I wanted to thank you for saving my hide once again."

"Aw don't mention it, I don't think you forgot who got you into the mess in the first place, so let's call it even."

"Even…ok I can do that. So what do you say we hang out later on you know to celebrate the end of this mess?"

"Yeah sure I'll round up the guys if you want."

_Man do I even stand a chance with you like this?_

"Well I figured it would be the two of us, nothing special just some harmless fun."

"That can work too. I'm actually done after this so I'll go home and meet up with you later ok?"

"Sounds great, I'll actually pick you up at seven then."

"Seven it is."

Jordan was at her apartment when a thought suddenly struck her mind. What if this was more than just harmful fun as he had put it. At work she hadn't thought much of it when he told her he'd rather it just be the two of them. Having some time and random thoughts shooting through her head she literally stopped in her tracks to think about it some more.

We've hung out before…but it was different this time. The tone in his voice this afternoon was different.

Suddenly she didn't know what to wear, she completely forgot to ask him where they were going so she decided to call him.

"Hey Woody, yeah where we going again?"

"It's that little Italian place we've talked about going to remember?"

"Oh ok" she said her heart suddenly beating fast. "Well I gotta go it's almost seven" her voice trying to sound upbeat.

_The Italian place? Crap oh my god this took a turn on me. What do I do? What do I wear?_

She decided to go with a black number she had hanging in the back of her closet.

7 p.m.

Woody was right on time he thought or 4 years late depending how he wanted to look at it.

"The door's open, hang on I'll be right out," she yelled when she heard him knocking on the door.

"Ok take your time," he replied once he was inside.

She didn't however and 2 seconds later she stepped out and took his breath away.

"Wow Jor you look amazing."

"Aw thanks. Well let's go then I'm really hungry." _Is it hot in here or is it just me? _

They arrived at the restaurant and Jordan found out he had reserved a table for them…in the back where it was nice and quiet.


	3. Talk, Let's Talk

**Disclaimer: I don't own em….**

Ok I can handle this we're just 2 friends eating dinner. It doesn't matter he happens to look good in that blue shirt which matches his eyes…no it shouldn't matter.

After they settled down he was the first to talk sensing she stiffened up a bit.

"Work has been crazy lately it seems people are dying left and right." Great job…nothing to liven the mood up than work talk…and especially your work.

She noticed his attempt and willingly went along.

"Yeah it's been murder," she said jokingly with a big smile. "I'm sorry it was just too easy farm boy. She felt the tension fading away and before they knew it they were talking almost like there was nothing complicated going on; just the two of them and dinner.

After dinner they went for a walk along the Charles.

"Hey what's on your mind farm boy? You're looking a bit lost there."

He wanted to tell her but was scared all of a sudden. But he knew it was now or never and never was not an option.

"Jor…I need to end this."

Her heart skipped a beat. "End? Uh sure what do you want end?"

Her reaction threw him off. Why was she so eager all of a sudden? "Uh yea this needs to end Jor, aren't you tired?" Somehow the words didn't seem to come out the way he wanted them.

"Oh you're tired farm boy," she joked in an effort to lighten the mood and perhaps also to throw him off. She had understood him…understood him well. He wanted to talk about their little four-year dance. "Well let's go then, I mean we both got an early shift tomorrow."

He groaned not knowing what else to do. What would it take for him to break through her wall? "No Jordan!" He stopped once he realized how loud he was, but noticing he got her attention he went on, "no Jor, we're not going home, not until we get this over and done with all right." He was congratulating himself on taking charge in way. She had sat on the bench after a second of deliberation. He could almost hear her think. She must've felt trapped but there was no other way to get her to stay. The next thing was to get her to talk.

"Woody," she started that he had managed to corner her, "I don't think this is the place to you know talk."

"Jordan no this is perfect, let's talk." He took a deep breath, "you know when I left Wisconsin the last thing I expected to find was you."

Her eyebrow went up, "gee thanks?"

He let out a laugh, "no no not like that, I'm glad that I did is what I'm trying to say." He started to blush.

"Listen Woody I think I know where you're going with this and just don't ok. We're friends right? That means so much to me .I would never want to jeopardize that." She paused waiting for his rebuttal but he remained quiet. "Ok it's getting late, you wanna drop me home?"

He looked at her and for a moment and was lost for words. She had done it again…the dance went on. "Yea let's go," he said sounding defeated.

Once he took his eyes off her she looked at him careful for him not noticing and a feeling of sadness came over her.


	4. I Just Met Her Didn’t I

**Disclaimer: I don't own em….**

They drove back in silence and seeing as how they almost reached Jordan's apartment she couldn't let this hang between them.

"Woody?" she hesitated a moment before she continued, "Are we ok?"

He made an attempt to reassure her they were but she wasn't convinced.

"I don't think we are…I can feel it. I just don't want this to hang over our heads."

"Jordan…I think it's too late for that, I mean I can't take away what I've said," in his mind he added _or what you've stopped me from saying._

He pulled up in front of her building, usually he would've walked her to her door but this wasn't a usual night.

"Ok here we are, good night Jordan…I suppose I'll see you tomorrow."

If she was surprised by his standoffish behavior she didn't show it, "yeah tomorrow, good night Woody," she said as she left his car to go inside…alone.

She threw her keys on the table once she made it inside and all she could think of was the man she left outside. She really did love him…she convinced herself that if she loved him she would push him away…for his own good; it was the right thing to do. All her life she had loved and lost. It made her believe that she was the reason they all left her. Long before she had realized her true feelings for Woody he had been her friend…a very close friend too. When he started to become more than just that she had experienced a range of different emotions, there had been an initial disbelief that was soon followed by happiness, but in the end it all came tumbling down once reality hit. Her track record…everyone she had loved had left her in one point in time. The thought of losing Woody as well had terrified her to the point she promised herself never to inform him of her true feelings for him. They would be friends to the end and at the time it seemed like it could work. Now she was having her doubts…it seemed the end was coming sooner rather than later.

She didn't see him the next day nor the day after that and when she finally didn't see him for a whole week she started to get really anxious. She was expecting him to be somewhat mad but a week without even accidentally bumping into each other left her worried. She decided to look him up in her lunch hour.

She didn't find him in his office and decided since she was here she should wait for him. Suddenly she could hear laugher coming from the hallway. Curiosity being in her she decided to check it out. There he was…there _she_ was…who was she? The two definitely seemed to know each other _well. _The mysterious woman would laugh at each little thing Woody would say and then gently tap him on the arm. Suddenly Jordan felt the need to turn around and run…run and never look back.

She stayed however and decided to confront the issue…to the best of her ability that is. She approached him, "Woody hey, I was looking for you," trying to sound as casually as possible.

"Oh Jordan…hey didn't see you there," he said trying to sound disinterested…he couldn't hide his surprise though; it was evident in his reddening cheeks.

Since he obviously was still not recovered from her showing up, Jordan decided to introduce herself to the woman, "hi, I'm Jordan."

The woman answered back somewhat hesitant, "Hello, Ashley Waters. Nice meeting you."

Seeing the two ladies passing civilities reminded Woody of his own, "oh sorry…uhm Ashley is visiting from Stanford Medical Hospital…she's studying to be a neurosurgeon actually. Jordan's with the Medical Examiners Office here. I think that's why she stopped by…right Jordan?"

"Somewhat…I actually came to see _you_. Seemed like you dropped off the face of the earth really…but I see you've been doing just _fine_. Well nice meeting you Ashley from Stanford," she nodded and gave somewhat of a smile before she left not waiting for any reply.

Neither Ashley nor Woody spoke after Jordan left and finally after the she couldn't handle the awkward situation anymore Ashley decided to point out the obvious, "so that was _her_ then?

"Her? I don't think I've mentioned Jordan to you before."

"Come on Woody. I'm not stupid you know. I've been trying to get you to go on a date with me for some time now, and you've always refused me until a week ago. I always told myself you must not like women but I deep down I knew there was at least one that had your heart…I just met her didn't I?"

He didn't know what to say, "I'm sorry I guess…but whatever my feelings are for her, it doesn't matter ok. I'm having a great time with you."

"That's very sweet of you but there's no need for all this. You can't lie to yourself forever, trust me I know." She gave him a kiss before she turned around and left.

The rest of the day went by real slow, ironically now that he wanted to go to the morgue hoping he would run into Jordan, there wasn't anything that would take him there. Counting the seconds till his shift was over, he literally ran to his car when he was done.

_She was right; I'm done lying to myself._


	5. Say Goodbye?

**Disclaimer: I don't own em….**

After a long day at the morgue Jordan was sitting on her sofa trying to unwind. She cleared her head of all thoughts or so it seemed, there was one thought that was still rolling around in her head.

_Ashley…when did she happen? Blond, tall, pretty, is that what he likes? At least she's a doctor…could have been worse. Man! Let it go Jordan, _she was telling herself, _it was bound to happen sooner or later. Did you expect him to wait around forever? Nobody is going to wait forever on you…I just thought _he_ would. _

A knock on her door jerked her back to reality. She checked who it was before she opened the door, her heart nearly skipped a beat. _If he's here to say goodbye…I can't handle that right now. Calm down…you want him to be happy…just remember that, I can do this._

"Woody? Hey what are you doing here so late?" She had the surprised part down to an art.

"I can say I was in the neighborhood but I'm tired of lying. I came to see you, we need to talk. Can I come in?"

"Sure," she opened the door so he could pass, "can I get you anything?"

"I'm not sure really…I know what I want, I've been trying to tell you that…I want to know what you want Jordan. _Straight to the point…this way she can't back down. _"Did you even feel anything today when you saw me with Ashley?"

"She seemed nice."

_Come on Jordan don't do this to me now, _he thought. "Nice Jordan? Come on, that's all you'll give me? Alright ok that's fine, so what about you then?"

"Well what do you want me to say Woody?" she said a bit exasperated. "I was surprised ok. I don't hear from you for a week…I don't know if you're fine or not and then…then I see you're doing just _fine."_

"So you do care then?"

"I never said I didn't care about you Woody," she said in a calmer tone.

"But it's on a _friendship _level, friends. Is that really all we are?"

"It's all I can give you right now."

"You know I can be fine with that. I can live with that _god knows I've done so for the past couple of years_…were it not for the fact that I _know_ we have something deeper here. Sometimes I catch you looking at me the same way I look at you when I think you're not looking. The things we do for each other goes way beyond a regular friendship. There _is_ more between us."

"Woody let it go please, just let it go."

"I don't want to let it go anymore Jordan; I'm through letting it go…"

She moved back towards the sofa and sat down unsure what her next move should be. He followed her lead and found himself next to her, not too close but near enough to sweep her in his arms should she give him the sign.

He went on when she remained quiet, "we've tried the friendship thing Jordan and no matter how hard we try, we're always going to come back to this exact spot."

"Woody I'm sorry I just can't. Trust me on this one ok…you're better off this way."

He was slowly losing his patience, as much as he wanted to stay calm he couldn't, "No You're better off this way…I'm sitting here telling you I'm willing to give us a chance, and you're not even willing to make an effort. You're just sitting there and in a way running and hiding from everything all the time."

"Woody! Don't do this," she was angry and hurt but at the same time knew that on some level he was right. She had been running and hiding from the truth for a long time now. Having it thrown in her face like this was just painful, "just stop ok, there's no need to ruin what we have."

"We have _nothing_," he bit his lip as soon as he realized what he had said. He felt very low suddenly and even worse when he saw the look on Jordan's face.

"Wow…four years all summed up in one word…_nothing_." A single tear came down her face. "Guess we disagree on more than just one thing, I realized a while ago that we're better of as friends. So that friendship that suddenly means nothing to you means a lot to me."

"I didn't mean it to sound the way it did…hell I don't know anything anymore but if that's what it takes to wake you up then so be it."

"You know I have just had about enough, I have to start early tomorrow so we're done for the night."

"I'm not leaving Jo."

"Suit yourself," she said as she moved towards her bedroom. She reemerged a couple of seconds later with a pillow and blanket, which she threw on the sofa.

Woody smiled, "see I told you."

She made no reply and went back into her room where a restless night was awaiting her.

She had lied once again…to herself…to Woody…

His words were echoing through her head, he was so right it scared her. He knew exactly what she was doing…running from him. Even though she didn't want to run anymore, it was still hard for her to embrace their relationship.

_Relationship_…._ did I just say that? _Her subconscious was on the same page as Woody; all that was left now was for her to do the same.


	6. Work & Friendship

**Disclaimer: I don't own em….**

_Wake up…_was she dreaming or did she just hear a voice calling out to her? Suddenly her mind went back to the night before, she groaned, _he really didn't leave. What time is it…aw crap I'm late for work! _She jumped out of the bed and stumbled into the living room.

"Woody! What is going on in here? Why didn't you wake me up? I'm late for work…Garret's going to kill me."

"Oh yeah about that..." _God she's gorgeous even this early in the morning._

"What about it!"

"Garret's not expecting you to come in till later today"

"What…" her heart started beating faster.

I called him to say you're running late…" he waited for her reply knowing it wouldn't be pretty.

"You did what? I can't believe you went behind my back and did that, what the hell were you thinking!"

"Ok I can understand you might be a bit upset but I promise you it's all done by the book and frankly Garret was more than happy to go along with it so…" _Let's see if this works, come on Jordan you know you can't resist…_

She tried really hard to stay mad at him but he sounded too sincere for her to continue her fit of anger…that and the puppy dogface he was giving her. "I can't believe this…is everybody in on this? I'm going to call Garret and then I'm taking a shower. You do what you feel like since I obviously have no say in that." She said pretending to be mad still. She wasn't very successful; he knew she wasn't mad anymore so when she left he couldn't but help to smile which she saw when she looked back one last time.

After checking in with Garret who lovingly scolded her for calling in on her well-deserved day off, she took her shower and headed back to the living room afterwards feeling an array of emotions. Her curiosity got the better of her, "hey Woody care to tell me wha…" she looked around her apartment but he was nowhere to be found. She called out one more time but he had apparently left.

She kicked herself mentally, _haven't you realized by now…they never stick around long enough._ A bit disappointed that she started to prepare some coffee for herself. She was halfway done when the door swung open and two huge bags of groceries seemed to walk in.

"Jordan! _What_ are you doing?" Woody exclaimed as he quickly put the bags on the counter.

She nearly spilled the water on the floor, "you're seriously starting to drive me crazy here Woody."

"Welcome to my world then, now put the mug down and step away please."

"What's all this," she said as she pointed to the bags.

"Its called breakfast…people tend to eat it in the morning you know. Now go do something useful while I prepare it ok."

She had no choice but to agree and stepped back to let him do his work. For the next twenty minutes she unsuccessfully tried to busy herself with random things around the living room and going back and forth to her bedroom. If he were to ask her what she was working on she wouldn't know what to tell him, she was too preoccupied thinking about what _he _was doing.

He finally called her once the food was done and they sat down to a cozy little breakfast. No serious subjects were tackled, it seemed like they were just two ordinary friends spending some time together. When they were done eating Woody insisted on cleaning up. Once that was done they had to get ready for work.

"So, no hard feelings then?" he asked a bit serious.

"You made me breakfast Woody…"

His face lightened up, "Oh so I scored some brownie points then?"

"Don't push your luck farm boy."

"I wouldn't _dare_ do such a thing; I just hope you realize we still need to finish our conversation from last night."

"It's going to have to wait or else we're both going to be late for work for real this time." She said as she was walking towards her bedroom to get ready for work.

He sighed, "Work and friendship…two words I'm starting to really dislike nowadays."

"Well I wouldn't if I were you…" she came back and gave him a kiss on the cheek then added, "This is for the breakfast; don't get any wild ideas in your head."

He made no reply and merely smiled. He was trying to savor the moment…she slowly but surely would soften up to idea. Granted he had waited four years already, but he had never pulled out all the stops before. He wouldn't make that mistake again…he was ready for her. The question lingering on his mind as he drove to work was would she be ready for him?


	7. What Just Happened Here?

Disclaimer: I don't own em….

Unfortunately Woody had to take it slow whether he wanted to or not. There was not a doubt in his mind that she would accept him one day, that day just had to wait a little longer. While he was busy trying to convince Jordan she had feelings for him, life around them went on. He was called into his superiors' office one day and walked out with a promotion. It was everything he had ever wanted, his own office, a new title, but no one to share it with. Not that he wasn't working hard on it but it seemed faith played another trick on them.

The promotion had some strings attached to it. He needed to go undercover, but not only that the job would require a year or more out of his life away from Boston…away from Jordan. He felt all his work would be undone by the time he would get back, if he ever got back. The job was also dangerous and there was no guarantee he would make it out alive.

He had accepted the promotion in the heat of the moment but now that he had a chance to think it through he was having second thoughts. Was he strong enough to do this? He couldn't answer this not alone at least. He called Jordan and told her he would come over after work. He didn't ask he just told her.

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8 pm. There was a knock and after checking who it was Jordan opened the door. "Woody hi, come in," she tried to analyze his face and body language but she couldn't.

"Hey Jor, sorry about the phone call but I really needed to talk to you. I need some advice."

They were sitting on her sofa now, she motioned to the pizza box on the counter but he just shook his head. "Ok was up? What has gotten you so rattled?" she made an attempt to break the tension but no such luck.

"I got a promotion."

"Woody oh my God that's huge. When?"

"Earlier today."

"Ok so why the long face? This is good news; it's what you've always wanted."

"Yeah it was until I met you, now you're all I want."

"Woody…"

"No let me finish, if I take this promotion we can never be. If I don't I'd most definitely commit career suicide. So you see I can't win."

"No why do you say that? Nothing will change, well I'd probably have to start calling you sir but we'll deal with that." Another attempt to relieve the tension…failed again.

"New York."

"What's in New York?"

"Me…I'd be stationed there. There and wherever else they send me."

"Wait what? What exactly does this promotion mean?"

"There setting up a new task force based in New York. Only a select few are admitted each year. They've rounded up 5 of us already."

"Why am I getting the feeling that that's not all?"

"Because it's not; we would have to cut off ties with family and loved ones for at least a year during training and the undercover missions."

"Woody this sounds insane! You're a police officer…a detective not some kind of military operative. Did you accept it?"

"Do you think I should?"

"No! I mean that's not for me to decide. If you really think you want to do this then I would support you but Woody come on, undercover, breaking off all ties. This isn't you."

"You haven't mentioned one word about us yet."

"We talked about this already there is no _us_ at least not in that sense"

"You know when I was a kid my dad used to say you don't miss something until it's gone. I used to hate when he would give me cryptic messages like that, but he was right. You know that we have something here Jordan but for some reason that is beyond me you can't admit this to yourself. For some reason I thought that the thought of losing me would trigger something in you but it seems I was wrong. I took the job Jordan. I leave in two days."

It was like a brick wall came tumbling down on her, "you did?"

"Yeah Jordan I gotta go now. I have so much to do before I leave. I'm leaving early in the morning so I think I have time to come by the morgue before I leave." He left after saying a quick goodbye.

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She sat in the exact spot he had left her in two hours ago now. Her face was streaked with the tears that didn't seem to be coming to an end. All her fears were coming true; she would lose him just like she had known all along. With each breath she felt her heart break over and over again. "Damn you! Why did you have to be like all the others!" she cried out. "I love you! I do and you're leaving me…why?" she sat there until it was time to go to work. She would get over him…she had no choice.

**_A/N: I'm a bit rusty so this chapter needs some tweaking, you'll have to look/read past that unfortunately. I know some of you were following this story, SORRY! It took so long. I just didn't know where to go from here so it wouldn't be just like all the other WJ stories but such luck._**

_**Please leave me a line or two….REVIEW! **_

_**Thanks!**_


	8. Always

**Disclaimer: I don't own em….**

Woody made good on his word, he stopped by the morgue before he left for his new job. The goodbyes were tearful and heartfelt. Lily couldn't stop crying and both Nigel and Bug were lost for words. Garret was his usual stoic self but there was a hint of sadness in him as well. They all knew what this would do to Jordan. They were all there for the ups and downs in what they could only call their dysfunctional relationship. Now Woody was saying goodbye to them for God knows how long. Jordan was trying to keep herself together through this. She wasn't talking much and tried to keep her distance in a way. She didn't want anyone to see her in case she broke down.

Finally it was time for Woody to leave. After a couple more hugs and kisses from Lily and quite a few promises to stay out of harms way he made his way to the elevator with Jordan by his side.

They were both staring at the closed elevator doors. "Well Jor this is it then. In a few seconds I'll be out of your hair," Woody said jokingly.

"It wasn't all that bad really. I mean yeah at times that Wisconsin charm drove me nuts but overall you're not that bad." She replied.

"See even the great Jordan Cavanaugh couldn't resist that famous Wisconsin charm."

Suddenly she turned serious, "Woody what am I gonna do without you. I need you…I need you here." Her eyes started to water.

Determined to make this as painless as possible Woody desperately tried to stay calm. On the other hand this was what he wanted to hear for the past five years. "Jordan you'll be fine, you don't need me you have your friends."

"It's not the same," the elevator doors opened and she knew she had to let him go. "It's time, go I'll be fine," she said determined not to break down anymore than she already had. Her face told a different story though, Woody knew this was breaking her heart and as a way to amend himself he gave her a final hug and whispered in her, "Jordan I love you and always will. I know you think that I'm leaving you just like all the other men in your life but I promise you I will come back. I will come back for you and then no one can take me away from again. I promise."

He held her tight for a moment longer and then slowly released her from his embrace. Before he stepped inside the still open elevator doors he gently grazed her lips with his own and after a final smile he stepped back and let the doors close.

She finally let herself go and dropped to the floor. Her friends rushed to her side knowing that she would need them after he left. They led her to her office where she could cry in private with her friends by her side.

Minutes slowly turned into hours, which turned into days. To Jordan one minute seemed like an hour. It came to the point that Jordan actually called in a few times at work. She never told Garret she was sick because a broken heart simply didn't qualify as an illness and she felt she shouldn't lie in this case. Luckily for her Garret understood and seeing as how the state of Massachusetts owned her tons of vacation days he was happy to oblige her. As her friend he knew she needed some time to deal with Woody leaving. As her boss he knew she needed to come to terms with Woody's departure for her own sake, the last thing he wanted to do now was fire her for slipping up on the job.

When three months had passed by her friends, who were already worried, thought that she needed to get her mind of Woody. Even a minute without thinking about would help, so they convinced her to go out drinking. A night out on the town with some of her trusted friends would do her some good they thought.

With Bug and Garret stayed at the morgue so Nigel and Lily could take her out. She had been comfortable enough in the past to talk with Nigel about Woody and their back and forth dance. Lily wanted to be there for emotional support and she and Jordan had grown closer over the years so it seemed wise for those two to accompany her.

Lily had wanted Garret to go along as did he, but a last minute call from the DA's office about a case forced him to stay behind. He had told her to tell Jordan he really wanted to be there but couldn't.

It was easier for all to meet up instead of driving together and so they did. Jordan arrived first seeing as it was her day off and besides sitting around in her apartment all day she wasn't doing much. She saw Nigel and Lily as soon as they entered the bar and waved for them to come over.

"Jordan hey," Lily said as she gave her a hug. "How are you doing?" Then realized what a dumb question it had been. "Oh God Jordan, I mean…"

"Lily it's ok really. I'm fine. Really I'm fine." She said trying her best to make her smile look real.

_Oh love you're in denial,_ Nigel thought. "Well love you look absolutely gorgeous," he said trying to get through to her from a different angle.

"Yeah you do," Lily added.

"Well then I should lie around my apartment staring at the wall more often then," she said in an effort to show them that she was still able to joke with them.

"Aw Jordan really, is that all you've been doing?" Lily couldn't help but get serious with her again. "Why didn't you call us earlier then? I mean we know that this must be hard on you…I know he meant a lot to you…"

"Meant? He's not dead Lily and he didn't leave me. He promised…he promised he would be back." She said as the tears started to fall and started crying.

"Oh Jordan no. I didn't mean to imply that. Jordan no I'm sorry, you're right he will come back. He will." She said as she put her arms around her and looked at Nigel feeling helpless.

Nigel moved forward and placed one arm on Jordan shoulder and one on Lily's comforting both his friends. "Jordan? Love, what Lily meant to say is that we are here for you. All we want to do is help you get through this is all."

"You think it's my fault don't you? This is just like me isn't it? I can't keep a healthy, steady relationship is that it? Fine. Yes I did this. I drove him away. Happy now!"

They were both silent for a moment. Finally Nigel broke the silence, "are you? Love are you happy this way?"

For a moment Jordan just looked at him as if she didn't understand the question. Then the tears started to roll down her face again. She covered her face with her hands and finally said that what scared her the most, "no…I need him Nige. I need him now more than ever. I don't think I can live another second without him anymore," she said as she turned away from her friends.

Nigel moved forward again to pull her into another hug, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Expecting Lily he gasped once he saw who it was. Once he recovered he motioned for Lily to follow him. He understood that they needed to be alone.

Jordan was still covering her face and sobbing lightly. She felt herself back into a tight embrace. It felt familiar almost natural and she couldn't deny his scent. "God Nigel you smell just like him. I never pegged you and Woody wearing the same cologne. Nigel? Nige…" She gasped as she looked into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. "Woody?" Unable to say another word she just stared at him.

It dawned upon her that he must have heard everything, _everything…shit he heard everything_, she thought. For a brief moment she felt scared. The urge to turn around and run was big, but she didn't. She remained where she was, face to face with the man she loved and he knew it.

He had expected her to run and deep inside he wanted her to stay and say it again. Finally she broke the silence, "you're back." It was more a statement than a question.

"I made a promise didn't I? I will never leave you Jordan, it was just something that had to happen but now I'm back and wondering, no more like hoping you can repeat what you said to Nigel just now."

She panicked. He wanted her to say it. She took a deep breath and started, "Woody, you came back. You came back and this scares me to death. I'm used to people leaving so I can deal with that, well in my own way. But you…you came back and I don't know what to do…I…I need you." She felt relieved once she said it. "I want you, I want you to stay and never go away again. I…I love you, always have." She moved a step closer to him waiting for his reply.

He knew how hard this was for her so he moved closer as well figuring he should meet her halfway. "I love you too, always have and I promise you I will never leave you again." He closed the gap between them and claimed her lips with his own. In the background a slow song started to play and he broke away from her for a second to ask her to dance with him, "dance?" She gave him a seductive smile, "always."

Looking in from outside Nigel and Lily rejoiced as their friends finally gave in to what the rest had known for quite some time now.

**A/N: omg it's finally done! Sorry it took forever I know I lost some of the reader's b/c of that but oh well. Thanks for reading and plz review, as I always love to hear any kind of feedback.**


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